


Sparring with the best of them

by blacksoulwithredsoles



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Bonding, F/M, Fist Fight, Friendship, Gen, Sparring, Team Building, relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-27
Updated: 2017-10-27
Packaged: 2019-01-23 22:11:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12517680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blacksoulwithredsoles/pseuds/blacksoulwithredsoles
Summary: Team building exercise aboard the Discovery: Training. Naturally Michael Burnham wants to show the Chief Security Officer what she is worth.





	Sparring with the best of them

**Author's Note:**

> Not my best work but the idea didn't leave me alone, so here you have it.
> 
> I think that will be it until we get more Burnham/Tyler interactions.
> 
> Enjoy...

A time honoured tradition on all ships is for senior officers to bond. On some ships that meant dinner in the Captain’s mess, on others it’s a relaxing holodeck session. Aboard the USS Discovery it’s training sessions.

Since Lieutenant Ash Tyler came aboard the ship he asked the Captain if a selection of senior officers could commit to weekly combat training. He doesn’t expect all officers will be there each week due to the kidnappings, battles and emergencies that are prone to the Discovery.

This would be the first time in the three weeks he has run the program in which all officers have attended.

Captain Lorca adopted his usual position at the back of his crew, keener to observe his officers than demonstrate his expert tactical skills. Lieutenant Staments stood in the middle of the group, insanely fascinated with his own arm – the crew mentioned the engineers encounter with the cells that propel the ship did a number on him. Next to him was Doctor Culber who although isn’t the Chief Medical Officer, gets well with the other officers more than that Andorian ever would. The Discovery’s first officer is always interesting to observe in these training sessions. His species is natural born prey and his hooved feet don’t exactly make him nimble – for a prey like species they don’t defend against the predators well. He is surprised to see Cadet Tilly at these sessions, as she is still a cadet but the Captain’s star pupil took a shining to her, a blessing not a curse he thinks. Then there is Michael Burnham. A natural born leader if he ever knew one. She stands front and centre, hands clasped behind her back from years of conditioning. This is Burnham’s first session with him and he is intrigued.

The groups previous two sessions were based on one-on-one training, allowing their instructor to observe them.

“Who’s up?” he asked his crew mates, expecting the Captain to be the one who would volunteer. After all the man is a natural born tactician.

Michael Burnham steps forward from the crowd, “Ready Lieutenant.”

Tyler scratches his beard, while not exactly Starfleet regulation he has kept it as a souvenier from his time with the Klingons.

The woman circled him, skilled enough to not take the first punch. Giving her an in Tyler makes the first move, throwing a fist while one remained guarding his face.

They continued in this manner, no one landing a punch until he managed to clip her side before she wrapped her arms behind his head and drew her knee to his face.

Startled he fell to his knees and Burnham took the opportunity to round him, hooking a leg over his shoulder and wrapping an arm around his neck.

“Yield.”

_Never._

Tyler grabbed her with his other hand and used the momentum to toss her over his shoulder. As she stumbled he pulled himself up and went to throw another punch. Burnham deftly kicked his arm and landed two punches to his ribs before Tyler regained the upper hand and punched her square in the torso.

Rushing forward she jumped on him, sending them both stumbling to the floor, she moved to perform a Vulcan nerve pinch when Ash gripped at her side and used his superior body weight to send her tumbling beneath him.

Trying to regain her leverage Burnham gripped a leg around his, attempting to reverse their positions once again but Ash was unmovable. She reached for his shoulder and the moment he moved to deflect she used his distraction to reverse their position.

Rolling his head when she moved to strike him he didn’t see her use the opportunity to effectively fall off him and move him to a sitting position, arm locked squarely around his throat.

“Yield.”

She repeats.

The man conceded.

Burnham could feel the fight leaving his body. Grinning to herself she allowed her grip to slacken.

Standing, Tyler extended an arm to her, “Well fought.”

His teeth exposed when he grinned, despite being bested.

The woman simply laughed it off and quirked an eyebrow at him as she rolled out her muscles.

The pair turned to face their crewmates only to hear a low clap from the back.

Of course Lorca would be impressed, his two star pupils just proved their weight in gold.

Staments looked horrified and his partner equally so at the damage those two inflicted on one another.

Saru seemed equally impressed and horrified at the display.

Cadet Tilly…Well shell shocked was one way to explain it.

“See how we both protected our face? Ideally you would have weapons in this scenario and you should always use what is at your disposal, but for the purpose of this training we will be sparring without weapons for those less than ideal situations. The Klingons favour their Batleth’s to their rifles so be prepared for combat as well as a Disruptor blast.”

The mans hands came to rest on his hips and he forced himself not to wring out his muscles, not wanting Michael to be aware of how many good hits she actually got.

“Klingon’s also are physically superior to us with denser bone mass and body weight that surpasses our own. But the bigger they are the harder they fall,” Burnham winked at the Lieutenant.

The crew used the rest of their hour paired up and sparring with one another, the fit fighters disbursing and pairing with the less skilled fighter.

By the time their hour was up there was sweat, laughs and groans.

This is what camaraderie sounds like.

On a ship that dealt with death and destruction on a regular basis it was a welcome change to see faces alight with smiles and laughter filling the room.

Every person walked out of the room lighter than when they entered, the evening work out doing much to boost the state of mind of the Discovery’s crew and the burgeoning relationships developing within the ship.

* * *

The familiar beat of the sonic shower was welcoming to his aching body. Arms stretched in front of him on the shower wall he allowed his muscles to relax after admittedly, a grueling training session. Michael Burnham definitely got a few good hits in.

Too entranced with the feel of the water cascading down his back he failed to notice the woman entering behind him until a pair of arms wrapped around his torso, hugging him from behind.

His muscles relaxed at the familiar touch and he turned in her embrace.

“Hi,” he looked down at her. Somehow in this intimate setting their height disparity is even more obvious than when they’re in their uniforms.

She smiled brightly at him, “Hi there.”

Her arms looped to the back of his neck while his gripped at her waist, pulling her closer towards him.

The movement caused her to wince and he immediately stilled his hands, not wanting to pain her further.

“Someone landed a few good hits,” she continued when the pain in her side dulled.

His wet hair flicked to the side as he laughed off her comment, hands simultaneously running up her sides feeling for any damage he had inflicted.

One hand moved to grab at the muscles of his back and the other running over his facial hair she leaned forward, the spray of the water hitting her as her lips glided over his in a familiar battle for dominance.

Tyler’s hands tightened their grasp on her waist, their bodies impossibly flush that water from the overhead shower didn’t pass through them.

Only breaking apart when oxygen became a necessity neither realized their eyes had closed until they moved to open them.

“Good session?” he smirked, earning him a slap on the chest from her hand that moved down during their embrace.

“Great session,” she corrected. Her tone adopting an infliction of joy that it usually does when in his presence. Something about this man always made her feel joyful despite the current predicament of the Federation.

“It’s always nice to do this after a session.”

Her arms pulled back behind his neck offering her leverage as she leaned backwards, “All of your training sessions end like this?”

He laughed, “Well there is this Cadet assigned to deck four…” he trailed off.

She quirked an eyebrow but moved to kiss him nonetheless, knowing that although this relationship is new found and mostly undefined that it wasn’t true.

* * *

 

When the pair were nestled in bed later that evening, sheets strewn with evidence of their desire for one another they both found themselves in a restful slumber, which they can only find in each others arms.

**Author's Note:**

> So?
> 
> Kudos is medicine for the soul.


End file.
